Is this the model that's supposed to be $30,000 and ship in 2015? I love Tesla's strategy of releasing a new model every 3 years for half the price of the previous model. Does this mean they will have a $15,000 model in 2018? That would be great.<p>Starting with 2020 electric cars should start going mainstream, which is not too bad. I think many people wouldn't have expected this until 2050 (when we'd be really running out of oil) about 5-10 years ago.
Reading this headline before my first cup of coffee this morning and having a dim awareness that Elon Musk is involved in spaceflight (no doubt conflating Model X with SpaceX) I was disappointed to find discussion of cars instead of rockets.
Electric cars will go mainstream when:<p>1. They become priced like regular cars
2. They have the range of regular cars
3. They come in form factors similar to regular cars
4. They are cheaper to own and operate than regular cars
5. They stop being about "the environment". San Francisco is not the entire US.<p>It looks like we're getting a bit closer to all of these milestones, which is good.
This is supposed to be a crossover vehicle that Elon Musk claims will be "faster then a Porsche 911 and roomier than an Audi Q7". Also he claims the most interesting view of it is with its doors open (a reference to something rumored to be called Falcon doors, some sort of folding doors).<p>The next model after this is the one he wants to make for like $15000-$20000<p>They seem to think Model X will be very well received.
Seeing the design elements that went into making the Model S from the ground-up, I am excited to see what a "family" all-electric car built from the ground-up will look like. I wonder if there's going to be another HUGE touchscreen panel.<p>And how many seats? I'm pretty stoked. And maybe my Tesla stock will have a nice bump after the unveiling. [weak disclosure] :)
>Does this mean they will have a $15,000 model in 2018? That would be great.<p>I wouldn't want Tesla to release a car even at $30,000. It takes away the from the rarity and coolness. Electric cars certainly do need to evolve and Tesla has done an incredible job, but there are dozens of other manufacturers out there that are just as capable. If you could buy a Bugatti or Koenigsegg for $75,000 they would certainly be less attractive to auto enthusiasts. It's human nature to want what we can't have. If Prada (not knock-offs) started selling their bags at $50 a pop do you think girls would still worship them?